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CONCORDIA COLLEGE, MOOKHEAD, MINNESOTA
THE
CONCORDIAN
Friday, February 13, 2004 Volume 14, Issue No. 18
Theatre revs up for next play
Stanton's Garage opens this weekend
Photo by Solveig Nesse
Stanton's Garage opened on Thursday. Read a review in the A&E section of this week's issue.
Homosexuality
examined
Sarah Hoffman
Staff Writer
Members of the Concordia community have
the opportunity to affect the social statements that
will be issued by the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) regarding homosexu-ality
in the church. Last week roughly a dozen
Concordia students and faculty members attended
the first session in a four-part study entitled
"Journey Together Faithfully: The Church and
Homosexuality." The study, which is a national
publication complied by the ELCA's task force on
sexuality, has been tailored to the Concordia com-munity
by a committee comprised of faculty, stu-dents
and members of the campus pastors' office.
Jonathan Welch, a member of the committee
who helped to organize the sessions for
Concordia, said the study is designed to facilitate
discussion.
"Our primary goal is to have a productive and
informative discussion about homosexuality in
the context of our faith and our church," Welch
said. "If we facilitate a discussion where people
are sincere and share ideas in an environment of
mutual respect, we will consider this a success."
According to the workbook guide for the
study, in 2001, voting members of ELCA congre-gations
around the country adopted two resolu-tions
calling on the denomination to address
issues of homosexuality in the church. The first
resolution calls on the church to study homosexu-ality
as it relates to the blessing of same-sex
• SEE SESSIONS ON PAGE 10
Community buzzing about communiversity
Kevin Artnbrust
The Concordian
Fargo-Moorhead Communiversity programs
have been providing locals entertainment and
knowledge since 1965. This year celebrates the
39th anniversary of Communiversity, which
greatly relies on Concordia buildings and facul-ty
for operation. Dr. James Hoffrening started
the programs in 1965 with its faith and life sem-inar,
and they have since expanded from 18
attendees to over 2,000 last year.
Programs coordinator Lynette Kehlcr agreed
that it has changed dramatically since its incep-tion.
"The whole program has diversified over
the years. We offer a much greater variety in
classes than we did, and it's not totally focused
on theology anymore." Kehler has been work-ing
for Communiversity since last June. "It's
just a place to come and learn."
Associate professor of physics Mark Gealy is
teaching his fourth Communiversity program
this February, and highlights the theology cours-es
with Believing Where We Cannot Prove. This
will be his second year teaching this class. "I
just love Communiversity," commenced Gealy.
"I'm impressed by the age diversity and the
curiosity of our community. Fargo-Moorhead
does an outstanding job in that regard."
"I'm impressed by the age
diversity and the curiosity of
our community. Fargo-
Moorhead does an outstanding
job in that regard. "
Mark Gealy
Associate Professor of Physics
The title for his course is borrowed from a
chapter in Phillip Kitcher's Abusing Science,
which is a recommended reading. "The class is
about the philosophy of science- why it's cred-ible,
how we can be sure about events that have
happened in the past, but we haven't seen with
our own eyes." Participants will be discussing
the literal truth of Genesis, focusing on the idea
that science does not have to be observed
directly. "It's been a long time that I've been
trying to dispel [that] information- that's what
motivated me."
However, it's the fervor of the community
that really makes these programs succeed. Dr.
George Larson, an English professor at
Concordia, has already completed his course A
Timeless Critic: Charles Dickens & Victorian
Views, and further comments on this aspect.
"People arc very involved and interested,
they allhave good points for creativity," Larson
said.
Dr. Larson hasn't taught Communivcrsity
for years, but,it is the second time that he has
taught this particular course. "I understand
things better when I teach them," Larson said.
"It's always fun to talk with other people about
things that I enjoy."
Louise Lund of Moorhead, who attended
both of Larson's sessions, thought that Larson
did an excellent job with the course. "He has a
great sense of humor and did a great job of
explaining how Dickens incorporated laughter
into his works," Lund said.
Communivcrsity has a number of other
classes in liberal arts and sciences as well. One
of which, entitled Into Print taught by MSUM's
Mark Strand, is for those who are interested in
publishing their own books for printed and
online publications. Complementing Strand's
course is Greg Carlson's Film & Novel. His
class will be examining popular movies and the
novels upon which they were based. Among the
novels participants are encouraged to be famil-iar
with are To Kill A Mockingbird, One Flew
"/ understand things better
when I teach them. It s always
fun to talk with other people
about things that I enjoy. "
George Larson
English Professor
Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Great
Expectations. Carlson teaches both at
Concordia and MSUM, and is also associate
film editor for the High Plains Reader. His class
meets February 15 and 22 from 4 - 6 p.m. in
Olin 124.
From creationism to Charles Dickens, these
programs cover a wide variety of subjects at a
very minimal cost, according to Gealy. "That's
what we try to do here. We can't teach you
everything in four years, but we try to encour-age
students to continue their education beyond
college," Gealy said.
For more information on how to get
involved in Communivcrsity, contact the
Outreach center.
Presidential search moving forward
Matt Olson
Concordian Reporter
One hundred and twenty nominations, 20 applicants and only
one president. According to Roger Gilbertson, the chair of the
search committee, candidates for Concordia's 10th president are
coming from all areas of the country., bringing diverse and unique
personalities to the table.
To provide assistance in finding candidates, the search commit-tee
hired American Search Consultation Service, based in
Washington D.C. A consultant from the Washington D.C. firm
heard only positive comments about Concordia while talking with
candidates about applying. "Concordia has a very outstanding rep-utation
nationally," Gilbertson said.
The current status of the search remains in the middle stages of
the selection, with the committee "in the process of evaluating and
working the aggregate pool of candidates, both nominees and for-mal
applicants." The search committee remains open to receiving
applications for those still interested in the job, Gilbertson said.
However, according to Gilbertson the search process does have
a time limit. "The search will take as long as it takes to get the right
person to be the leader of Concordia College," Gilbertson said.
Gilbertson commented that Dr. Paul Dovre might remain interim
president for another year if the seiirch takes longer than expected,
and that Dr. Dovre remains very sympathetic to the interests of
Concordia.
The search committee is comprised of 13 members, including
Student Association President Lfc Connor. Connor said students
want a president they can relate find talk to. "People want some-body
who is really accessible and approachable."
Connor said that students see the president as embodying what
Concordia stands for, which generally consists of being noticeable
on campus and having the ability to have conversations with stu-dents
on campus.
To get a feel for what the students want Connor met with groups
of students and different leaders of organizations. "It's really
important to people that the president is somebody who is respect-ed,"
she said. Connor used the example of President Dovre and ref-erenced
to his great reputation at Concordia and in the community.
"He was not only recognized in the Concordia community, but if
you went into the Fargo-Moorhead community people knew who
he was."
The search committee put together a leadership statement, and
posted it on the Concordia website to provide a set of requirements
that candidates need to have. The leadership statement says that
candidates must have "vision, commitment and the capacity to lead
this nationally regarded liberal arts college of the church."
Gilbertson said the search committee requires that all candidates
applying for the position are members in the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America and have a doctorate degree.
Experience remains a major factor in the search process as well.
In presidential search processes across the country, there exists a
trend in choosing more experience and longevity in candidates,
Gilbertson said. "It would be great for us to find a great, young
dynamic person who would be selected president and then could be
here for 25 years," Gilbertson said. In addition, Gilbertson said
more colleges look for people who have experience and in whom
they can predict success.
Gilbertson thinks that Concordia has many attractive qualities
www.cord.edu/dept/concord •
"People want somebody who is really
accessible and approachable... It s really
important to people that the president is
someone who is respected. "
Liz Connor
SA President
that draw candidates to the college, mainly Concordia's reputation
as an institution possessing respect for higher education and
Christian ethics. Another quality that attracts candidates is con-cordia's
linkage of faith and learning.
Gilbertson said the search committee agreed on certain respon-sibilities
that any potential candidate must carry out. Any president
of Concordia needs to handle the responsibility of knowing the aca-demic
profile, the learning environment, the role of faculty and
have an involved interest with students.
Gilbertson views a leader as one who conducts their life with
certain principles and values. "What makes a good leader in my
mind is one who has extremely high integrity, and one who views
leadership as being a servant to those they are leading." Gilbertson
also said leaders show their talents through relating with others.
"What makes a leader is their ability to connect with people and to
create a passion among people to go forward with the vision they
create." • • .

CONCORDIA COLLEGE, MOOKHEAD, MINNESOTA
THE
CONCORDIAN
Friday, February 13, 2004 Volume 14, Issue No. 18
Theatre revs up for next play
Stanton's Garage opens this weekend
Photo by Solveig Nesse
Stanton's Garage opened on Thursday. Read a review in the A&E section of this week's issue.
Homosexuality
examined
Sarah Hoffman
Staff Writer
Members of the Concordia community have
the opportunity to affect the social statements that
will be issued by the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) regarding homosexu-ality
in the church. Last week roughly a dozen
Concordia students and faculty members attended
the first session in a four-part study entitled
"Journey Together Faithfully: The Church and
Homosexuality." The study, which is a national
publication complied by the ELCA's task force on
sexuality, has been tailored to the Concordia com-munity
by a committee comprised of faculty, stu-dents
and members of the campus pastors' office.
Jonathan Welch, a member of the committee
who helped to organize the sessions for
Concordia, said the study is designed to facilitate
discussion.
"Our primary goal is to have a productive and
informative discussion about homosexuality in
the context of our faith and our church," Welch
said. "If we facilitate a discussion where people
are sincere and share ideas in an environment of
mutual respect, we will consider this a success."
According to the workbook guide for the
study, in 2001, voting members of ELCA congre-gations
around the country adopted two resolu-tions
calling on the denomination to address
issues of homosexuality in the church. The first
resolution calls on the church to study homosexu-ality
as it relates to the blessing of same-sex
• SEE SESSIONS ON PAGE 10
Community buzzing about communiversity
Kevin Artnbrust
The Concordian
Fargo-Moorhead Communiversity programs
have been providing locals entertainment and
knowledge since 1965. This year celebrates the
39th anniversary of Communiversity, which
greatly relies on Concordia buildings and facul-ty
for operation. Dr. James Hoffrening started
the programs in 1965 with its faith and life sem-inar,
and they have since expanded from 18
attendees to over 2,000 last year.
Programs coordinator Lynette Kehlcr agreed
that it has changed dramatically since its incep-tion.
"The whole program has diversified over
the years. We offer a much greater variety in
classes than we did, and it's not totally focused
on theology anymore." Kehler has been work-ing
for Communiversity since last June. "It's
just a place to come and learn."
Associate professor of physics Mark Gealy is
teaching his fourth Communiversity program
this February, and highlights the theology cours-es
with Believing Where We Cannot Prove. This
will be his second year teaching this class. "I
just love Communiversity," commenced Gealy.
"I'm impressed by the age diversity and the
curiosity of our community. Fargo-Moorhead
does an outstanding job in that regard."
"I'm impressed by the age
diversity and the curiosity of
our community. Fargo-
Moorhead does an outstanding
job in that regard. "
Mark Gealy
Associate Professor of Physics
The title for his course is borrowed from a
chapter in Phillip Kitcher's Abusing Science,
which is a recommended reading. "The class is
about the philosophy of science- why it's cred-ible,
how we can be sure about events that have
happened in the past, but we haven't seen with
our own eyes." Participants will be discussing
the literal truth of Genesis, focusing on the idea
that science does not have to be observed
directly. "It's been a long time that I've been
trying to dispel [that] information- that's what
motivated me."
However, it's the fervor of the community
that really makes these programs succeed. Dr.
George Larson, an English professor at
Concordia, has already completed his course A
Timeless Critic: Charles Dickens & Victorian
Views, and further comments on this aspect.
"People arc very involved and interested,
they allhave good points for creativity," Larson
said.
Dr. Larson hasn't taught Communivcrsity
for years, but,it is the second time that he has
taught this particular course. "I understand
things better when I teach them," Larson said.
"It's always fun to talk with other people about
things that I enjoy."
Louise Lund of Moorhead, who attended
both of Larson's sessions, thought that Larson
did an excellent job with the course. "He has a
great sense of humor and did a great job of
explaining how Dickens incorporated laughter
into his works," Lund said.
Communivcrsity has a number of other
classes in liberal arts and sciences as well. One
of which, entitled Into Print taught by MSUM's
Mark Strand, is for those who are interested in
publishing their own books for printed and
online publications. Complementing Strand's
course is Greg Carlson's Film & Novel. His
class will be examining popular movies and the
novels upon which they were based. Among the
novels participants are encouraged to be famil-iar
with are To Kill A Mockingbird, One Flew
"/ understand things better
when I teach them. It s always
fun to talk with other people
about things that I enjoy. "
George Larson
English Professor
Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Great
Expectations. Carlson teaches both at
Concordia and MSUM, and is also associate
film editor for the High Plains Reader. His class
meets February 15 and 22 from 4 - 6 p.m. in
Olin 124.
From creationism to Charles Dickens, these
programs cover a wide variety of subjects at a
very minimal cost, according to Gealy. "That's
what we try to do here. We can't teach you
everything in four years, but we try to encour-age
students to continue their education beyond
college," Gealy said.
For more information on how to get
involved in Communivcrsity, contact the
Outreach center.
Presidential search moving forward
Matt Olson
Concordian Reporter
One hundred and twenty nominations, 20 applicants and only
one president. According to Roger Gilbertson, the chair of the
search committee, candidates for Concordia's 10th president are
coming from all areas of the country., bringing diverse and unique
personalities to the table.
To provide assistance in finding candidates, the search commit-tee
hired American Search Consultation Service, based in
Washington D.C. A consultant from the Washington D.C. firm
heard only positive comments about Concordia while talking with
candidates about applying. "Concordia has a very outstanding rep-utation
nationally," Gilbertson said.
The current status of the search remains in the middle stages of
the selection, with the committee "in the process of evaluating and
working the aggregate pool of candidates, both nominees and for-mal
applicants." The search committee remains open to receiving
applications for those still interested in the job, Gilbertson said.
However, according to Gilbertson the search process does have
a time limit. "The search will take as long as it takes to get the right
person to be the leader of Concordia College," Gilbertson said.
Gilbertson commented that Dr. Paul Dovre might remain interim
president for another year if the seiirch takes longer than expected,
and that Dr. Dovre remains very sympathetic to the interests of
Concordia.
The search committee is comprised of 13 members, including
Student Association President Lfc Connor. Connor said students
want a president they can relate find talk to. "People want some-body
who is really accessible and approachable."
Connor said that students see the president as embodying what
Concordia stands for, which generally consists of being noticeable
on campus and having the ability to have conversations with stu-dents
on campus.
To get a feel for what the students want Connor met with groups
of students and different leaders of organizations. "It's really
important to people that the president is somebody who is respect-ed,"
she said. Connor used the example of President Dovre and ref-erenced
to his great reputation at Concordia and in the community.
"He was not only recognized in the Concordia community, but if
you went into the Fargo-Moorhead community people knew who
he was."
The search committee put together a leadership statement, and
posted it on the Concordia website to provide a set of requirements
that candidates need to have. The leadership statement says that
candidates must have "vision, commitment and the capacity to lead
this nationally regarded liberal arts college of the church."
Gilbertson said the search committee requires that all candidates
applying for the position are members in the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America and have a doctorate degree.
Experience remains a major factor in the search process as well.
In presidential search processes across the country, there exists a
trend in choosing more experience and longevity in candidates,
Gilbertson said. "It would be great for us to find a great, young
dynamic person who would be selected president and then could be
here for 25 years," Gilbertson said. In addition, Gilbertson said
more colleges look for people who have experience and in whom
they can predict success.
Gilbertson thinks that Concordia has many attractive qualities
www.cord.edu/dept/concord •
"People want somebody who is really
accessible and approachable... It s really
important to people that the president is
someone who is respected. "
Liz Connor
SA President
that draw candidates to the college, mainly Concordia's reputation
as an institution possessing respect for higher education and
Christian ethics. Another quality that attracts candidates is con-cordia's
linkage of faith and learning.
Gilbertson said the search committee agreed on certain respon-sibilities
that any potential candidate must carry out. Any president
of Concordia needs to handle the responsibility of knowing the aca-demic
profile, the learning environment, the role of faculty and
have an involved interest with students.
Gilbertson views a leader as one who conducts their life with
certain principles and values. "What makes a good leader in my
mind is one who has extremely high integrity, and one who views
leadership as being a servant to those they are leading." Gilbertson
also said leaders show their talents through relating with others.
"What makes a leader is their ability to connect with people and to
create a passion among people to go forward with the vision they
create." • • .